Antecedentes

Indian producers face several challenges to secure their household’s income, food provision while making an important economic contribution for the country. And one reason for the rising farm distress is crop failures and yield losses triggered by the vagaries of climate. The livelihood of a large proportion of India’s population—as the largest private enterprise with ~138 million farm families with an 18% contribution to national GDP—is at risk.   Any shock on agricultural production already has social and financial repercussions for both the population and the country as a whole; it impacts rural income levels, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and, in the worst years, poverty rates.

The Government of India’s flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), compensates farmers for any crop losses.  The scheme insures farmers against a wide range of external risks — droughts, dry spells, floods, inundation, pests and diseases, landslides, natural fire and lightning, hailstorms, cyclones, typhoons, tempests, hurricanes and tornadoes.  While the idea of insuring farmers against crop losses isn’t new, the PMFBY is an attempt to plug the gaps in the previous crop insurance schemes — the National Agriculture Insurance scheme (NAIS) introduced in 1999 and the Modified NAIS (mNAIS) introduced in 2011.

The scheme came into operation from 1 April 2016 with a Central government budget allocation of Rs 5,500 crore for 2016–17 seeing subsequent rise in the budget over the years and in 2020-12 it has been enhanced to Rs 15,695 crore. 

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana promotes sustainable agriculture production through  – i) financial support to farmers against crop losses due to climactic or external shocks ii) securing incomes iii) improved, modern and innovative farming practices for better yield iv) enhancing credit availability in the agricultural sector.

Another scheme is the Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) that aims to mitigate the hardship of the insured farmers against the likelihood of financial loss on account of anticipated crop loss resulting from adverse weather conditions relating to rainfall, temperature, wind, humidity etc. WBCIS uses weather parameters as “Proxy” for crop yields in compensating the cultivators for deemed crop losses. Pay-out structures are developed to the extent of losses deemed to have been suffered using the weather triggers.

COVID-19 pandemic restricted the movements of agricultural farmers and their engagement in their fields and the harvest. Norms of social distancing was difficult for member farmers to follow, as a result they failed to harvest on time and sale the produce at appropriate price. In such situation it is important to extend financial support to the farmers to overcome the economic crises and securing incomes, arising as a result of long lockdowns and movement restrictions.

The Country Programme Document (2018-2022) of United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) approved by the Government of India has defined one of its foremost programme priorities and outcomes as “Institutional and systems strengthening for service delivery” as the single most innovations to achieve last mile developmental impact. UNDP has set up the Technical Support Unit for the implementation of PMFBY, at MOA&FW  to improve institutional and programme responsiveness, increase coverage and better access among the marginalised and excluded farm households offering innovative measures for risk management and reduced crop loss for the rural population in Odisha.

Under this scheme UNDP is planning  to provide a technical support to the state government of Odisha in this regard UNDP is planning to hire an Individual Consultant to provide technical support to Department of Agriculture, Government of Odisha in strengthening the Insurance across the state.

 

Deberes y responsabilidades

Duties and Responsibilities:
The Consultant (Crop Insurance), will be based at Bhubaneswar and shall work under the guidance and supervision of the Director, Agriculture.  The Consultant (Agriculture Insurance) is responsible for: -

  • Assist the Director, Agriculture in reviewing the status of the PMFBY;
  • Preparation of DPR for RWBCIS for different horticultural crops
  • Support to review current business practices and procedures inside and outside Odisha to identify key risk factors and alignment to the insurance market;
  • Determine the views of potential farmer clients regarding PMFBY and WIBCI, including assessment of the affordability of insurance and willingness to pay the premiums;
  • Identify and advise on the introduction of suitable crop insurance products;
  • Support in develop and finalization of Terms of reference for consultants/ consultancy firms to be hired to undertake project activities;
  • Facilitate review meetings to ensure quality and consistency of reports and deliverables by partner institutions/ responsible parties including financial reports from all project partners,

Liaison

  • Liaise relevant government agencies and all project partners for effective coordination of all project inputs;
  • Provide technical backstopping for inputs for training activities supported by the Project;
  • Provide timely inputs for the timely submission of all progress reports as may be required by UNDP, the Ministry of Agriculture;
  • Foster partnerships with key national and state government departments, and insurance regulator.

Other tasks

  • Perform any other tasks consistent with the level of the post and/ or assigned by the Reporting Officer; Director Agriculture/ Principal Secretary, Agriculture / Head of Office-UNDP-Odisha.

Competencias

Core Competencies: 

  • Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
  • Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the organisation

Functional Competencies:

Job Knowledge/ Technical skills

  • Sound knowledge and experience in the field Accounting and
  • Demonstrates substantive and technical knowledge to meet responsibilities and requirements of the post with excellence;
  • Possesses the capacity for strategic planning, result – based management and reporting;

Communication Skills

  • Good communication skills
  • Tailors and presents information to diverse audiences using a variety of communication delivery methods (e.g., written, electronic, oral, interpersonal) Documentation
  • Good interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations with people in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity;

Management skills

  • Demonstrated skills connecting with a wide range of stakeholders – insurance agencies, insurance regulator, state agencies etc.,
  • Ability to participate and contribute consultative meetings at national and state level with partners and senior stakeholders to identify priorities and manage the timely delivery of project activities.
  • Reliable in delivering own parts of the work as part of a team effort
  • Demonstrates excellent work/project planning skills;
  • Is open to change and ability to manage complex, ever-changing environments;

Language Requirements:

  • Excellent oral and writing skills in English and Hindi

 

 

 

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education:
Master’s degree in Agriculture Economics or Insurance, or Business Administration (MBA) from a reputed university
Experience
Essential

  • Seven or more years of demonstrable experience in insurance business preferably agricultural crop insurance and WIBCI products.
  • 5 or  more years of experience Program/project management experience
  • Relevant Experience at the national level working with Governments and private entities in the insurance sector 

Desirable

  • Experience of working with Central and/or State Governments/ international agencies/ on similar assignments will be preferred.
  • Seven  years or more of experience in finance and accounting
  • Experience of working with Central and/or State Governments/ international agencies/ on similar assignments will be preferred.

Desirable

  • Relevant Experience at the national/ state level working with Governments and private entities in the insurance sector 
  • Prior experience of technical advisory services in the insurance sector

Evaluation Method and Criteria:
The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as Responsive to the requirement. Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation;
Technical Criteria weight - 70%;
Financial Criteria weight – 30 %
 Technical Criteria (70% of total evaluation)

  1. At least 5years of experience of working in social development space- 20%
  2. Experience working with the Central and/or State Government/International Organisations/NGOs - 20 %
  3. Nuanced functional research skills with attention to detail and academic vigour, with competency in data analysis vis-a-vis statistical packages (like SPSS, R, etc.) - 20%
  4. Excellent demonstrated documentation skills vis-a-vis MS Office Suite and prior experience in developing concept notes / reports / project plans will be essential - 10%

Financial Criteria: (30% of the total evaluation) based on the total all-inclusive lump sum amount for professional fee for tasks specified in this announcement

Financial Proposal:

Technically qualified consultants will be requested to submit their daily fee rate i.e. consultants who score more than 70% i.e. 49 marks with respect to the above-mentioned evaluation criteria. Consultant should not specify their consultancy fee on their CV or with the submission. The CV will not be evaluated further in case the consultant submits the same 

Deliverables and Schedule of Payment:
Monthly payment up to maximum 22 working days on submission of time sheet and monthly reports of work done.
Note:
Any kind of miscellaneous charges i.e. internet, phone, relocation charges etc. will not be reimbursed;
Travel, lodging and boarding as per UNDP rules subject to prior approval
Please note proposals without financial proposal will not be considered.

Please apply online by visiting www.in.undp.org (Careers)


General Conditions for Individual Contract-
http://www.in.undp.org/content/dam/india /docs/procurement/UNDP%20General%20Conditions%20for%20Individual%20Contracts.pdf

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.